Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Asking for Demonstrations

In the confusion of Malaysian politics, the one thing everyone seems to want is demonstrations. Everyone wants demonstrations; not just the opposition, but the Malaysian police as well.

That’s my thought when I read that Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was arrested outside his home, despite Anwar agreeing to be interviewed by the police. In fact, a large police convoy picked up the former deputy prime minister just hours before Anwar was due to give a statement to police over sodomy allegations.

Why did the police not wait for Anwar to report to the station before arresting him? It’s not as if the 60 year-old opposition leader was going anywhere. The only reason I can think of is the desire to have chaos on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

When Anwar was arrested on these same charges 10 years ago, there were large demonstrations by his supporters in KL. It is almost certain that the same thing will happen again now, and it seems that this is something everyone wants.